Why nobody will face charges over GMTV's £35m phone rip-off

No-one is likely to face criminal charges over the GMTV phone-in scandal which fleeced viewers of £35million – because nobody can be bothered to prosecute.

For the past few months, the Serious Fraud Office has been considering evidence in the case, which involved millions of callers paying to enter competitions they had no chance of winning.

However the SFO confirmed yesterday that it had ditched any plans to investigate because the case was not "complex" enough and did not warrant the use of its "expertise".

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This would leave the scandal in the hands of either the City of London or Metropolitan forces.

But they have both confirmed that they are not investigating, meaning that the case will effectively fall between the cracks of the legal system and go unpunished.

GMTV's competitions, run by a company named Opera Telecom, routinely picked winners before phonelines had closed.

This meant millions of callers over a four-year period were throwing money away as they had no chance of winning.

In September last year, GMTV was fined a record £2million by Ofcom for causing "a substantial breakdown in the fundamental relationship of trust between a public service broadcaster and its viewers".

Opera was fined £250,000 by the premium-rate calls regulator, which said it showed a "reckless disregard for the interests of callers".

Senior GMTV executives resigned following the scandal and the company was forced into a grovelling apology.

It was arguably the most significant rip-off exposed in a series of scandals over misleading viewers which came to light last year.

MPs are angry at the latest decision claiming the individuals behind the rip-off will never face a proper criminal investigation.

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, who sits on the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, said: "The people who appear to have been defrauded are being treated with utter contempt.

"People have got away with this scot-free and this can't be the right outcome."

Conservative backbencher David Davies said: "The whole point of the Serious Fraud Office is to handle cases like this.

"Perhaps anyone who took part in that phone-in should make an official complaint to the police and ask that it be investigated."

The BBC has been bombarded with complaints after subjecting viewers to another weekend of wall-to-wall sports coverage.

The schedule on Saturday and yesterday included 14 hours of football and rugby over 24 hours – not to mention a continuous seven-and-ahalf hour stretch of sport.

Two weekends ago, disgruntled viewers complained at being subjected to more than ten hours of sport in a single day on the BBC.

John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons Culture select committee, said: "I have some sympathy with those who think it's overkill."